Pyro Studios, the development team behind the Commandos series, has turned its hand to the hybrid RTS/ table-top strategy genre – a genre which consists primarily of Creative Assembly’s brilliant Total War games. Rather than try and re-invent the genre, Pyro has simply taken every single element of the Total War series and dressed it up in Napoleonic clothing. In fact, the similarities are so strong that at first glance you’d be convinced that you were playing a Total War game.
 
The game plays out on a 3D battlefield, or sea, with an optional campaign component on a 2D map of Europe. Like the Total War series, it also features quick battles and historical scenarios, with realistic weather effects and terrain mapping and accurate unit breakdowns for the era’s five major players: France, Russia, Britain, Austria and Prussia.
 
The 3D interface looks great and works well – in every way on par with Total War’s 3D engine in Rome. Battles can involve defending a position, defeating the enemy, or taking and holding objectives. One area where Pyro has managed to expand, however, is by introducing sea battles into the mix. Sea battles consist of lining up the broadside of your ship, selecting your ammunition type, and firing. While the sea element is a welcome addition, it’s clunky interface makes it far less fun than it could be.
 
The strategic map plays and feels like a boardgame which, again, is highly derivative of the Total War games, right down to the sound effects that accompany the movement of the pieces around the map. It’s here that your Imperial campaign plays out, where you manage your territories, research new technologies, and conduct diplomacy. While it’s easy to get into, we found the pacing to be too slow, with limited early forces and creeping research. However, there are some nice touches, like the addition of ‘sympathy’ to prevent heavy war mongering; a swag of diplomatic tools; and a variety of options to build up your trade routes.
 
While it’s all something we’ve seen before, this is the first time the Napoleonic era has had such in depth treatment. That it happens to be derivative of Total War is beside the point – Imperial Glory is one of those rare gems that mimics a very successful franchise and manages to pull it off. The only question now is what’s coming up from Creative Assembly now that the Napoleonic era, which was surely next in line, is now well and truly covered.